One year in the mid-90’s, when I was nine or so, I received a pair of books from one of my aunts as a Christmas gift: Rowdy Robots and Cure for the Cosmic Cold. They were part of a then-ongoing series – You Can Call Me Alien – about a boy named Martin who had learned that his parents were space aliens. Over a dozen installments were published from the early to late-90’s, credited to author Terry Jenkins. Somehow, they totally managed to slip my mind since childhood, ending up being sold at some garage sale or lost between moves.
Many years later, I was browsing a used bookstore when I happened upon another entry in this series, one I hadn’t heard of: Trapped in Tina! Memories began to flood back to me about vaguely enjoying the books I had read in the series, but information on this obscure property was relatively scarce. It was as though it had been completely scrubbed from the internet and publishing history. Nobody in the wilds of the internet seemed to know anything about it; the only proof that it existed was the copy I was holding in my hands, which I bought for 50 cents.
Using my rudimentary research skills, I was able to find someone who knew someone who could help me reach out to the author. Now going by TK Jenkins, they have resided for over two decades in a remote part of Montana. The story of how and why they went into exile is not mine to tell, but suffice to say it has something to do with the contents of their writing. It seems that, somewhere along the way, Jenkins had come into some sensitive information that they playfully incorporated into their books about alien adventures – at something of a cost, it turned out.
I exchanged some friendly correspondence with TK, intrigued by their mindset and what had become of them. I had felt it was a shame that their lovely stories were no longer widely available. We bonded somewhat over being authors, sharing some big ideas about identity and the world around us, me through my adult-oriented work, they through their more youthful tales.
With that bond established, I proposed that maybe the world would welcome a reprint of some of the stories from the YCCMA series – with any sensitive information excised so as to not risk reprisal. After a great deal of back-and-forth, Jenkins, who retained copyright to the entire YCCMA series, has allowed me to publish this truncated edition of the story that sparked my attention, Trapped in Tina.
Okay, that’s a lie. The truth is, of course, that I wrote You Can Call Me Alien: Trapped in Tina! myself as a tribute to 90’s young reader series like the Time Warp Trio, Space Brat, the Bailey Street Kids, and so forth.
Life hasn’t been the same since Martin Colby found out his parents are actually shapeshifting aliens from a far-off planet. So far he’s fought off alien viruses, robotic wrestlers, and time-travelling gladiators. Now he might be facing his toughest challenge yet: girlhood!
After a mishap with an invention designed to “borrow” some brains from the smartest girl in class, Martin finds himself inhabiting the body of the pesky Tina Pokornic, just as she’s set to compete for a prize at a big speech competition. Now he has to endure piano practice, long hair, skirts and, worst of all, vegetables, while his trusty friend Monkeywrench — the only one who knows his secret — works to get him back to normal, and keep him from being Trapped in Tina for good!
I had a blast writing this, it was really fun to throw my mind back into the place and time when this series “would have” been written and to create as though I were writing for that audience. It’s fun and playful and I hope readers get a hit of nostalgia while reading it.
You can buy You Can Call Me Alien: Trapped in Tina! at Amazon or on Books2Read [link to be added soon].
Enjoy and be kind!
-Liam